Shimei Curses David

⁵ When King David came to ^(A)Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was ^(B)Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came ^(C)he cursed continually. ⁶ And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.

¹⁷ He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, ^(A)for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. ¹⁸ And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. ¹⁹ For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. ²⁰ And now, behold, ^(B)I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. ^21 (C)Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and ^(D)that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house.” ²² And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up ^(E)to the stronghold.

⁷ And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse ^(A)give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, ⁸ that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me ^(B)when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you ^(C)is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, ^(D)to lie in wait, as at this day.” ⁹ Then answered ^(E)Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse ^(F)coming to Nob, to ^(G)Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, ^10 (H)and he inquired of the Lord for him and ^(I)gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king. ¹² And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” ¹³ And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and ^(J)have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, ^(K)to lie in wait, as at this day?” ¹⁴ Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and captain over^[a] your bodyguard, and honored in your house? ¹⁵ Is today the first time ^(L)that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, ^(M)much or little.” ¹⁶ And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's house.” ¹⁷ And the king said to ^(N)the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the Lord. ¹⁸ Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, ^(O)and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. ¹⁹ And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; ^(P)both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.

²⁰ But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named ^(Q)Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. ²¹ And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. ²² And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, ^(R)when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house. ^23 (S)Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”

²¹ Then Saul said, ^(A)“I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.” ²² And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it. ^23 (B)The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord's anointed. ²⁴ Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.” ²⁵ Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will ^(C)succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

³⁰ Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? ³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.”